Aston supercar design

Aston Supercar Design

Designed to occupy the very highest echelons of automotive performance, the One-77 is not a tarted-up DBS.

Despite employing classic Aston Martin long-nose styling proportions, One-77 is a bespoke engineering project - hardly surprisingly considering its Bugatti Veyron besting price of £1 200 000.


Built on a carbon-fibre monocoque tub chassis, One-77 cues its engineering credentials from the German

According to Aston engineers, DTM racing showcases the most advanced front-engined, rear-wheel drive cars in the world. Subsequently it was a perfect design foil for the One-77, which had to remain true to Aston's roots with a front-engined, rear-wheel drive layout.



One-77 features carbon-fibre chassis and inboard pushrod actuated suspension. James Bond wished he had one of these.

The typically stunning Aston Martin styling hides a very sophisticated suspension configuration, blending a classic double-wishbone all-corner set-up, curiously located inboard, with pushrods. These pushrods transfer vertical suspension movements to the horizontally mounted damper units, it's pure track technology.

Damping itself is fully adjustable – Aston will send engineers to your house to help you set it up too – and employs dynamic suspension spool valve technology (DSSV), Aston claiming it as a road car debut for the technology. These spool valves enable damper characteristics to be manipulated without having to remove the dampers themselves from the car.

Rolling on bespoke Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres (255/35 ZR20 front, 335/30 ZR20 rear) developed specifically for the One-77 (though nearly similar in specification to the Lamborghini SuperVeloce also on show at Geneva) One-77 should provide a unique rear-wheel drive handling experience.



Some industry pundits feel the Vantage based Aston Martin design proportions have been overused as the company's entire production range template. We don't know what they are on about either...One-77 looks simply epic.

Bigger, lighter V12

Powering the One-77 is a Cosworth fettled version of the Aston Martin DBS 6l V12. Swept capacity has been increased to 7.3l, though engine mass has been decreased by 25%, which should mean plenty of exotic materials constituting the block, heads and moving bits.

Adopting a dry-sump lubrication system allowed engineers to mount the 7.3l V12 100mm lower in the chassis than any previous V12 engined Aston Martin, accruing weight distribution and handling benefits.

Aston Martin claims to still be rounding off the engine output figures, yet admit they are condiment these should tabulate to a peak well in excess of 500kW.

On target to produce the One-77 in road going form with a rolling mass of less than 1 500kg, performance figures should factor in a 3.5 second 0-100km/h time (it's rear-wheel drive only remember) and top speed in excess of 320km/h.

With Aston having now shown the first rolling chassis at Geneva, our next hope is for them to announce the One-77's actual production name, before the first owners take delivery of their cars later this year.